The Ultimate Experience

WHEN they say, “Gentlemen start your engine,” at an AMG Ultimate Experience Asia track event, they are referring to the typical gentleman than your average hardcore racer.

The AMG Ultimate Experience Asia is a series of events aimed at sports car enthusiasts in South-East Asia.

That includes everyone from individuals enamoured with motorsport to clients of large corporations who will, for a fee, be able to compete behind one of 35 Mercedes-Benz SLK55 AMG Racing Edition cars at about 10 events per year.

The events are being staged in countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand by Front Row Investment Holdings (S) Pte Ltd in cooperation with DaimlerChryler South East Asia Pte Ltd. The series of lifestyle events began in March.

The SLK55 AMG Racing Edition lets you dice around the racetrack making you feel like you’re an F1 contender.

If it looks pretty much like last year’s Formula One safety car, that’s because the design of the 265-kW/360-hp eight-cylinder roadster is based on it. That’s the car driven by F1 safety car driver Bernd Maylander throughout the 2004 and 2005 Formula 1 seasons.

Being the only car in F1 that is never overtaken, the safety car needs to be able to lap at speeds of up to 240kph so that the race cars tyres do not cool too much and the engines don’t overheat due to inadequate airflow.

Few other cars have the torque, the high-speed composure and the reliability to make the grade.

The car includes suspension, brakes and a cooling system that have been specifically turned for the planned “AMG Ultimate Experience Asia” lifestyle event; plus numerous light-weight construction feature which provide exhilarating handling dynamic.

Around 25kg have been saved simply by using the carbon-fibre roof with its plastic rear window and dispensing with the vario-roof mechanical and hydraulic system.

Additional lightweight construction measures – including forged wheels, an optimized AMG sports exhaust system, omission of insulating materials, lighter door linings as well as fibreglass – reinforced plastic bucket seat – compensate for the extra weight of the braking system, the larger 80-litre racing tank, the roll cage and the fire extinguishing system.

All these measures lighten the kerb weight to considerably less than 1,500kg.

During our laps around the Sepang F1 circuit, we found none of the rawness of fussiness that one associate with racers. There’s actually air conditioning among the refinements.

Barring the roll cage and the omission of one seat, there is enough of the original interior dash and centre console to convince you that you’re in a Mercedes,

The 5.5-litre engine has phenomenal pulling power around corners and the power comes in very early. The car has a very chuckable, forgiving nature what with the traction control system cutting in to temper some over exuberant antics.

It feels like almost a second however before the gear changes cut in when you actuate the paddle shifts behind the steering – something you just learn to adjust to.

All in all, it would be nice to take one home but the custom designed SLK55 AMG Racing Edition can only driven on private racing tracks.

Guess we’ll just have to wait for the limited edition road-going version that Mercedes-AMG plans to launch soon.